This is a spin-off topic from the June Steps a Day thread. It seemed to be getting too detailed and probably of little interest to anyone not faced with this challenge.

My goals is 130/80 by next year, more or less. I'm 63. Just did a reading before taking my evening remedy, 140/83 with heart rate of 58 (in the future I'll write: 140/83.58) Sunday in the morning it was 151/93.51 right after waking up. Not reading it then again.

Methods: I have collected many toys and herbs over the years. Right now I'm using the Rehmannia 8-herb formula with about 4 additional herbs which I've double boiled into a potent drink. I take 2 oz, 4 x a day (upon awakening, noon, 6 pm, and before sleeping, ±).

I also have made a tincture with these herbs and sake cooking wine plus 100 proof vodka. This will be ready mid-July. Then I'll be 4 drops, 4x a day.

Running the #, the tincture will run about 1.1¢ a dose.

Also has one thing that uses a finger pulse to help me adjust my breathing and another that plays a bach-type melody while signaling when my breathing has slowed down.

Elaine, on the steps a day thread wrote this (in blue, responses in bold).

Blood pressure spikes all the time. You should sit still for a couple of minutes before taking your bp.Yup, it was interesting to see the general wave rhythm of how it goes. Still wondering when I'll be awake at 2 AM to try a reading then.

If you're upset about something, don't take your BP for a while. It'll be high, that doesn't count. Also there's white coat syndrome. People''s BP goes up at the doctor's office. Know that. I remind white coats of that all the time. I'm stressed going to the western doctors largely because they are unaware of the submissive/passivity requirements of clients and thus their power of hypnotic suggestion. For example, when they recite the dire consequence of not doing what they (sorry, "the research") want you to.

I don't know how accurate your meter is. ...It's the most accurate available for a reasonable cost. Omron brand, which doesn't mean much as they make the bulk of the meters. It does three readings spaced about a minute apart. I sit quiet for about 3 minutes. I make sure I'm upright, and my legs are not crossed, etc. and that the cuff is on my bare arm.

I compared it with drug store meters when I first got it and it was giving the same values.

Lynx

"Vision is not enough. It must be combined with venture.It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs." Vaclav Havel

Lynx, it sounds as if you have a good handle on the problem. Your BP is normal / slightly above normal. And the steps that you're taking are your steps, not the doctors. I think that's important. On one web site it said that for anyone over sixty anything under 140/I forget what is fine.

I hope you have a doctor you can work with and talk to. Some are easier than others. You're more comfortable (I think) with natural remedies where possible. (me to) My doctor was the one who said to stop taking the prescription medication and control my BP with herbs. (I was thinking it - she said it.)

anyway, good luck. We're getting to the age where we need more help from our doctors. They went to medical school. We are attached to our bodies. Both pieces of information are important.

This post just about taps out my knowledge on BP.

That said, I've been postponing the stupid tests that I'm supposed to take. (medical tests.) My steps for today will be to make the appointments.

Thanks Elaine, for the comment and yr perspective. I work with lots of different practitioners from various schools of study. Some officially sanctioned, some not. I'm not in charge of that part. I'm not doing this because any doctor directly recommended it. It's been on my mind for years. No symptoms that they list at all. I easily get to sleep, awake in the morning, manage to ride my bike about, etc.

One goal is to keep my personal data out of the insurance/medical records. It's not for strangers with ill intent to know. I also don't want to give money to Big Pharma if I can avoid it.

Had it all planned: Wed. get a massage followed by an Iso-tank, come home and take my #s. In the process missed a dose on the road (no biggie) and after a suitable settle in period too my #s around 10 PM :: 152/90.63.

Seems my current regular. Alas, also project security for still a while longer.

Lynx

PS. Elaine, No need to keep following along here, but as this will span months of attention it will keep my commentary in one thread. It's sort of a modern way to journal in plain view.

"Vision is not enough. It must be combined with venture.It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs." Vaclav Havel

I know it helps my understanding to zoom out and appreciate the full 360 degrees of what I'm coping with. This morning I picked up the idea of what stresses me. Oh boy, a long list. So I decided to list them, and stop at 64 or so. The writers of the I Ching felt that was enough situations to provide general life guidance and it lets me randomize the list and connect them to the hexagrams. Now as I get a hexagram I'll have a random stressor to consider along with it.

Here are the two up for right now:

hex. 20 stress of knowing so muchhex. 62 stress of losing friends to life events

Wisdom is achieved very slowly. This is because intellectual knowledge, easily acquired, must be transformed into `emotional,' or subconscious, knowledge. Once transformed, the imprint is permanent. Behavioral practice is the necessary catalyst of this reaction. Without action, the concept will wither and fade. Theoretical knowledge without practical application is not enough ... Intellectually the answers have always been there, but this need to actualize by experience, to make the subconscious imprint permanent by `emotionalizing' and practicing the concept, is the key.Brian L. Weiss, MD — Many Lives, Many Masters

And about friends is there anything in h. 62 ... I'll find out ... Carol Anthony, a writer who has really used the I Ching to develop a modern take on this classic itself, writes:

To distrust our path is to distrust the Sage who guides us. We cannot make our way in the hidden world alone; we need the Sage’s help, which can only be obtained through a modest acceptance of our fate.

It may well be that this is my current fate. Accept it and live on.

To the breath, Lynx

"Vision is not enough. It must be combined with venture.It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs." Vaclav Havel

I never thought of this as a "big Pharma' issue. I just want to keep my BP down in the healthiest way possible.

BUT since you mentioned it. One thing that really annoys me (annoys is a mild term for what I actually feel) is my health insurance sending questionairs about my health and telling me what I should be taking and what I shouldn't.

At one point, they told me to schedule an appointment for a Health Net rep to do a safety inspection in my home. I told them "NO." Anyone who would actually benefit from such an inspection should not be encouraged to allow strangers to come and check out his/her home.

I've seen more than one case of people being over-prescribed medication. And I'm not a doctor or nurse - these are just incidents that happened to my friends and family. - Warfarin - five times the maximum in her blood. When they took her off of it, she looked and acted five years younger. And the classic - sedatives in nursing homes where the patient was no longer able to walk or talk. This is very common.

I think, for the most part, doctors are ethical and western medicine can do a lot of good. I also have a friend who didn't want to take BP meds and died of a stroke. and another who didn't want to to take BP meds and ranted about everything for hours on end. He finally took BP meds and became a normal human (well - more normal.) And another friend who tried to treat pink eye with herbs. (It didn't work.)

So I don't want to trash the whole idea of taking prescription medication. But if there's a more natural way that works, I say go for it.

Just a plug for my doctor. If I want to use an herb, she'll look it up and check the effectiveness and side effects and give me any other advice about it. The best of both worlds.

Lynx wrote:"To distrust our path is to distrust the Sage who guides us. We cannot make our way in the hidden world alone; we need the Sage’s help, which can only be obtained through a modest acceptance of our fate."

This makes me think of writing. When I start to work on something, I get this empty feeling. I don't know what's going to happen, what my characters will do. I don't know where I'm going. So I start writing, and little by little the idea shows up and I work on it and it becomes clearer. I'm working on the ending right now. I have a general idea of what I want to happen, but no idea of how it's going to happen.

I think it's on topic to discuss your process, as BCN is a process for me.

One big challenge is knowing which is our 'path' and thus the one to trust. Is it listening to what thrills us, or that still small voice within? Both? What if they pull in different directions?

Every path chosen leaves the ones not chosen in their wake. Then later, other people thro up the non-chosen path as perhaps the more preferred one.

When we remodeled, we took a second mortgage on our condo and capped our borrowing limit at $50k, which felt more than generous at that time. Now it turns out we could use more head room and my partner reminds me that, "We had a chance to go higher but you didn't want to." Emphasis on the you. Great support, eh?

Like it wasn't a joint decision and had she pushed I might have agreed to more potential debt.

A path not taken that no one knows about is completely different than one taken through joint decision and/or with witnesses.

Part of working with dreams, Tarot, Runes, & the I Ching, is the random chance something meaningful will turn up to signal that right path.

One path I'm currently on feels like the reincarnation of "Freeborn" John Lilburne (without the jail terms) and his insistence on governmental (the people in formal authority) restraint as the foundation of positive self-rule. About three of the amendments in the Bill of Rights can be traced back to JL. As I review my life I can pick out various thoughts and beliefs and non-actions that support this as one of my paths.

There's perhaps no stress-free way to know; and so, to what I guess is my path,Lynx

"Vision is not enough. It must be combined with venture.It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs." Vaclav Havel

Elaine, I hate debt too. But we'll owe and want to keep some balance otherwise we'll spend down to nearly nothing. We both have high credit scores, so the rating services appreciate how we have handle our debts.

Either way, it's stress.

Lynx

"Vision is not enough. It must be combined with venture.It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs." Vaclav Havel

Thanks Elaine for recommending this book. I put it on hold at the lib, and picked it up last night.

Kowalski's style of writing made it easy to skim. Basically he presented the medical problem, research/results, summary of research, his thoughts and recommendation, almost in that sequence for every chapter. He died in 2007, probably not long after this book came out.

Skimming through the topics I skipped any I'm not interested in. I don't smoke, drink alcohol, or worry about collateral issues like cholesterol. I've been studying the potassium-sodium-calcium-magnesium electrolytes research for about a year. I own a high quality monitor, so skipped the sections on that. I eat plenty of nuts, veggies, and fruit. Moved on through those chapters (complete with recipes).

He discussed aspirin (on it), breathing, and Co-enzyme Q10 (take it). The breathing section mentioned Resperate by Intercure. I have one from 2002 I bot via cross-country craigslist. It was really fun. Since we were not local I said we should check each others Ebay scores as a means of co-vetting. We both passed, so then I said I'll send him two checks, one written for the current date and one for a month out. He was to send me the resperate. If I got the machine and it worked, he could cash the second check when the time came. If I didn't get it or it didn't work, I'd stop payment on the second check. This way, we both shared the risks. He agreed, and it arrived fine and worked.

Now, I tried Resperate again and I got frustrated with the chinzy belt that kept getting tangled and that I couldn't get to stay in place. Goners when I get the time via freecycle.

I'll list here the tidbits I picked up I'm following up on:

Arginine — Source: Endurance Products Company, Tigard, OR. MrK says it's best for BP over 130/80, as that's my goal, this might help. From the company: $60 for 400 tablets. I think the dosing is 3x a day. Not sure.

My daughter, who is a doctor, just gave me a book to read "Dreamland" It's basic message is - oxycodone is highly addictive, and a gateway drug to heroin. Purdue Pharma marketed it as a safe way to relieve chronic pain and most of the medical profession believed that.

My sister died from tripping off of a curb and falling on her head. She fell because she was was abusing prescription pain killers. Before she died, I got to be the one who cleaned up the messes she caused (co-dependent???) and there was a lot of mess.

Besides my sister, I saw things that weren't supposed to be happening. A friend would give away her extra zanex and vicodin to someone who visited her. And my mother-in-law was taking oxycodone last year just before she fell and began requiring 'round the clock care.

My daughter said that in medical school she was taught to prescribe pain killers to patients who complained of chronic pain. It was her duty as a doctor to relieve suffering. I'm not sure just when they changed their mind about that. It wasn't too long ago.

Later, she said she felt like a gate keeper telling a whole bunch of addicts that no she wasn't going to prescribe pain killers.

Re, Elaine, TMI, not really. Anyone who reads widely, as I do, or observes closes, as I sometimes do, knows this.

Got a quote for myself, from Seneca:

“We are, therefore, seeking how the mind can follow a smooth and steady course, well disposed to itself, happily regarding its own condition and with no interruption to this pleasure, but remaining in a state of peace with no ups and downs: that will be tranquillity.”― Seneca, On the Shortness of Life